Redistricting is the process by which new congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn every 10 years to reflect the population changes as a result of the census, according to ballotpedia.org.There are 65 House seats and 35 Senate seats in the Colorado General Assembly. The number of seats remains the same, but the map lines of the state legislative district boundaries are drawn differently to reflect the population changes.Colorado also gains an eighth U.S. House seat as a result of the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau data; it has been 20 years since Colorado added an additional seat.Congressional District 5, composed of most of El Paso County and all of Colorado Springs, is one of the districts that will see a change in its boundaries. According to a memorandum written by the Colorado Independent Redistricting Commissions staff on Sept. 3, because of the increase in El Paso Countyís population, which puts them 8,681 over the ideal district size, the eastern portion of the county is being moved to Congressional District 4.The Colorado Legislature used to be responsible for dividing the state into allocated congressional districts.†According to colorado.gov, if the Legislature failed to complete a new map of congressional districts during the legislative session after the census, legal challenges often resulted in state courts drawing the map.†The process resulted in court action the last four times congressional redistricting occurred.Amendment Y of 2018, transferred the authority to draw congressional district maps from the Legislature to the newly created Independent Congressional Redistricting Commission. At the same time, the passage of Amendment Z replaced the Colorado Reapportionment Commission (tasked with drawing new state legislative district maps) with the Independent Legislative Redistricting Commission. This is the first redistricting both commissions will be responsible for since the amendment became effective.According to the Commissioner Selection Process at colorado.gov, the commissioners for both groups are made up of volunteers who applied for and were selected through a process of judicial review and random draw. Each commission ó legislative and congressional ó is comprised of four Democrats, four Republicans and four unaffiliated voters. Each commission includes at least one member residing in each current congressional district and at least one member from the Western Slope. Each commission must, to the extent possible, reflect Colorado’s racial, ethnic, gender and geographic diversity.The Independent Legislative Redistricting Commission voted 11-1 on Oct. 11 to approve the new revised House districts map, with Commissioner Gary Horvath, a Democrat from Broomfield casting the only ìnoî vote.†On Oct. 12, the Independent Congressional Redistricting Commission unanimously approved†the map for Senate districts.According to the Oct. 13 article, ìColorado Redistricting Commission Approves State Legislative Maps,î posted at democracydocket.com, the new House map has at least 16 incumbent representatives who, as a result of the change, live within the same district as another. The article states that eight Senate incumbents would face a similar situation, forcing them to make the decision to run against a colleague or change addresses, as Colorado requires lawmakers to live within the district they represent.Michael Colombe, Colorado Democratic Candidate for U.S. Congressional District 5, 2022 Election, said in an email, ìRedistricting sets the stage for what we see today with the exponential growth in the Pikes Peak region.î He said this will hopefully get the attention of officials to have forward-looking initiatives and learn the value of collaboration to address issues like population growth, the difficult housing situation, the environment, water sources, transportation infrastructure, wildland urban interfacing, an aging community and military liaison.He said part of District 5 moving to District 4 is merely a result of the commissionís direction to follow the rules and parameters that work to ensure an equitable process. ìI believe the commission acted fairly and just when drafting the final proposal to the U.S. Supreme Court†to ensure districts are of equal population within a state to comply with the principle of ëone person, one vote,íî Colombe said.One positive impact to the new district is that the resources previously allocated to a larger geo-region can be allocated more proportionately, he said. ìAs a Colorado Congressional District 5 candidate, it pleases me to have the district contained in a smaller geographical area, so I can be more accessible, engaged and consistent,î Colombe said.The Colorado Supreme Court must approve a congressional redistricting final map by Dec. 15; the final legislative redistricting map must be approved by Dec. 29.Rep. Doug Lambornís office did not respond to phone or email requests.Anna Michaels-Boffy, communications and outreach consultant for the Commissionís Staff, said interviews with the Colorado Independent Redistricting Commissions are not allowed until the court has issued its rulings.
